Post Falls Wins, Heads For State

Idaho boys basketball

The Post Falls High School boys basketball team took the long way to Pocatello, but at least the Trojans still have travel plans.

Post Falls earned a berth to the State A-1 tournament Saturday in impressive fashion, cuffing the Boise Braves 68-58 in a playoff at Grangeville.

The Trojans (20-4 overall) will meet Region III champion Pocatello (16-7) in a state opener Thursday evening at Idaho State University’s Holt Arena. Tipoff is at 5:45 PST.

The playoff route wasn’t as rewarding for the Wallace Miners.

Wallace played what coach Dick Lilienkamp called a poor game in falling to the Lapwai Wildcats 75-57 in an A-3 state-qualifying playoff at Bear Den in Moscow.

The Miners end their season at 8-12.

Post Falls 68, Boise 58

It wasn’t that close.

It took the Trojans half of the first quarter to warm up, but once they did, it was over for the Braves.

Boise (12-13) got out to an 11-3 lead, but a 13-2 run by Post Falls gave the Trojans a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Post Falls widened the margin to 34-27 by halftime. Then the Trojans clinched the victory in the third quarter, outscoring the Braves 25-9 for a 59-38 lead going into the fourth period.

Trojans coach Scott Moore said the key in the third quarter was defense. Post Falls switched from man to zone.

“It really caught them off guard,” Moore said. “We’re pretty happy to be going to state. We don’t care who we play.”

Trojans reserve guard Brett Hollenbeck scored 12 of his teamhigh 15 points in the first half. Post Darick Pope had 14, guard Ryan Edmonds scored nine of his 13 in the decisive third period and sophomore post Austin Lee finished with 11.

Post Falls led 64-46 with 4 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before both teams substituted liberally.

Boise 13 14 11 20 - 58 Post Falls 16 18 25 9 - 68

BOISE Wimer 3, Roby 4, Rielly 3, Walker 2, Torres 4, Austin 3, Anderson 14, Mauk 12, Seiger 11, Coffield 2, Moore 0, Erickson 0, Orchard 0.

POST FALLS Curtis 1, Alexander 0, Edmonds 13, Roberts 3, Hollenbeck 15, Pichotta 0, Pope 14, McLean 7, Cudmore 4, Lee 11, Froehlich 0, Campbell 0.

Lapwai 75, Wallace 57

It was closer than the 18-point margin, but Lilienkamp wasn’t looking for a moral victory.

Lapwai threw the metal at the Miners. Wildcat Rocky Threeirons scored a team-high 23 points and had seven rebounds. He made all 10 of his shots, including a 3-pointer.

The Wildcats built a 35-27 lead, and the Miners stayed within eight to 10 points much of the second half until they were forced to foul with 2 minutes left.

“Being off for two weeks really showed,” said Lilienkamp, whose team, an A-3 independent in District I, was idle since the end of the regular season while District II teams played out their postseason tourney.

“We played one of our poorer games. If we’d played normal, we probably could have won,” Lilienkamp said. “We just did goofy things we never do.”

Lapwai hurt Wallace on the boards, outrebounding the Miners 33-22.

Ryan Nipp led Wallace with a game-high 25 points. Kyle Sprute added 16.

Lapwai 15 20 17 23 - 75 Wallace 12 15 15 17 - 57

LAPWAI Holt 2, Yearout 12, Bennett 6, Henry 7, Alfrey 16, Hewett 9, Threeirons 23.

WALLACE Carlson 1, St. Peter 0, Stutzke 0, Heyn 9, O. Cotter 0, I. Cotter 2, Juelfs 0, Sprute 16, Nipp 25, Hegbloom 6.